Problem with plant

I think my Leucothoe is probably dying. It is mostly brown now and leaves are dropping. There does seem to be new buds on leaf stems though, but am not hopeful. also it's possible cats have urinated in the area. Any thoughts?

Re: Problem with plant

Reply from Angie Robertson

Any chance of a picture?
Evergreens will drop leaves during the course of the year, unlike deciduous plants which drop them in autumn.
Leucothoe prefer an acid soil - do you know what type of soil you have? The also prefer a shady site.
Another option would be that the leaves have been hit by frost.
I wouldn't quite give up on it yet, especially as you say it has new buds. Once the weather warms up you could give it a feed of sequestrine - this should help sort out any iron deficiency due to alkaline soil.
To deter the cats from urintating I would suggest you place twigs and sticks around the base. Trimmings from holly or similar should do the trick. Cats will only urinate/deficate in an are of bare soil - generally once it has been freshly dug.